The Home Front Command on Saturday night kept its nationwide civil-defense policy largely unchanged but introduced limited relaxations for the center of the country, effective from 9 p.m. on Saturday until 8 p.m. on Monday.
Under the updated order, schools and kindergartens remained closed across Israel. Yet, small public gatherings and regular workdays were again permitted in areas outside active combat zones, provided people could reach a reinforced shelter within the designated warning time.
What stays the same, what changes
Educational activities: All classroom teaching, day-care programs, summer camps, and youth movements were suspended nationwide. Only narrowly defined exceptions—such as special-education frameworks operating inside protected spaces—could open.
Gatherings: In most of the country, up to 30 people could meet indoors or outdoors if a standard shelter was reachable in time. In high-risk districts—along the Lebanon and Syria front, the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea, the southern Arava, Eilat, and the Gaza border—limits were raised slightly to 50 people in open areas and 100 inside buildings, again subject to shelter access.
Workplaces: Businesses could operate everywhere so long as employees had immediate access to a protected area. Large customer venues, including shopping malls and gyms, had to enforce the same shelter rule.
Home Front Command reiterated that its directives aim to “protect civilians while preserving daily life during extended fighting,” adding that instructions were reviewed continually in light of rocket-alert data, intelligence assessments, and the population’s ability to cope.
The current directive expires Monday evening. Defense officials signaled that additional easing was possible if the volume of rocket fire continues to drop, but they cautioned that sudden escalations could trigger a rapid return to stricter sheltering rules.